OM workers persevere through persecution with the hope that 'their tears will be replaced with joy' through their faithfulness and that many hardened hearts will become open to the gospel.
“You Christians cannot stay here!” shouted some locals at Asha* and Romi*, two OM workers in South Asia, when they arrived in the village. “Before, some foreign Christians came to preach here, which angered our gods and caused our goats and buffalo to die,” the locals explained.
Asha and Romi had come to help the small local church reach out to their neighbours with the gospel and were determined to stay. However, the people in the village made their stay difficult. At times, the two women were yelled at, and stones were thrown at their room. They were also forbidden to use the local water source or gather firewood around the village. For these things, they had to go to a neighbouring village.
Asha and Romi sometimes became discouraged, cried and considered giving up. But God gave them the strength to continue with words from Psalm 126:5: “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy” (NIV). The women believed that one day their tears would indeed turn to joy… and it did not take long.
Shortly after, a whole family gave their lives to Jesus after experiencing healing through Asha and Romi’s prayers. With the help of the women, the local church became stronger, and the believers grew in the Word of God. Even the view of Christians held by people in the village soon changed after they saw the humble attitudes and servant hearts of Asha and Romi.
These days, Asha and Romi are not rejected but instead are regularly invited by the locals to teach more about the God who loves all people. God has opened the door and the women's tears have been replaced with joy!
*name changed